The Baltimore Ravens were the greatest success story from the 2012 NFL season, but in a twist, the Super Bowl champions weren’t the league’s biggest story.

Peyton Manning’s first season in Denver and Adrian Peterson’s career-best season dominated as inspiring comeback tales. Rookies Andrew Luck, Robert Griffin III and Russell Wilson were the buzz-worthy young playoff quarterbacks—until second-year sensation Colin Kaepernick burst on the scene. Chuck Pagano's courage and return to the Colts, along with Bruce Arians' work in his absence, was the feel-good story. Then there was the whole Tim Tebow mess—and just about everything else the Jets didn’t do right.

The NFL's 2013 season is setting up with major story lines, but none bigger than RG3's injury recovery. (AP Photo)

We can only hope that in 2013, the league will be just as lucky in providing so much drama. Two days after the Ravens lifted the Lombardi Trophy, the year already is off to a good start.

SAINTS GO MARCHING ON

Why not kick off where we left off, in New Orleans? The Saints’ shot at playing a home Super Bowl in the Superdome was lost less than a year ago when the NFL doled out its punishments for the organization’s alleged pay-to-injure program. Now that the league has reinstated Sean Payton after a season-long suspension, he and the Saints’ players have a lot of work to do to get back at championship level.

Another big part of the bounty fallout was the dishonorable exit of defensive coordinator Gregg Williams. Without his aggressive, blitzing game plan, the leftover and new personnel didn’t come through in a zone-oriented scheme. That led to the dismissal of Williams’ successor, Steve Spagnuolo, after just one season. Now Payton is determined to install a 3-4, and general manager Mickey Loomis needs to overhaul the defensive talent to make it work.

Offensively, the Saints still had Drew Brees, but not the same big-play moxie and overworking opponents with the running game. That will be the easier part for the offensive-minded Payton.

The Saints have more than a few black marks from their 7-9 season, and 2013 will be all about expediting the recovery process.

RG3 ON WOUNDED KNEE

It’s been less than a month since RG3 had reconstructive surgery for ligament damage in his right knee. Although we’ll be keeping tabs on what Luck and Wilson can do for an encore, we’re most eager to see if Griffin can be healthy and durable enough to build on his rookie-of-the-year status. So far, Griffin is off to a good start in his rehabilitation, but he’s not rushing into anything before the regular season.

“I’m pretty far ahead, but I don’t want to scare anybody—I’m going to take it slow,” Griffin said Saturday night at the NFL Honors. “My goal is Week 1. That’s all I’m really worried about, and I’ll make sure I’m ready to go.”

Griffin has a good source of inspiration to come back stronger in Year 2. Like Peterson, he’s driven to not just return, but improve to help Washington remain an NFC playoff contender.

“I vowed to my teammates and myself after my first knee injury that I would come back as a better player,” Griffin said. “That’s what I plan to do after this one as well.

“You won’t see the same Robert Griffin. You’ll see a better Robert Griffin.”

THE PHILADELPHIA EXPERIMENT

Eight NFL teams have new head coaches in 2013. Only one of them has prior pro experience with that position—Andy Reid, who was hired by the Chiefs after he was fired by the Eagles. The most intriguing hire, however, is Reid’s replacement in Philadelphia, Chip Kelly.

Griffin and Kaepernick made the read option a red-hot offensive wrinkle, and everyone wants to see if Kelly, fresh from a fast-paced scoring machine at Oregon, can make it stick as more than a trend. The Eagles wanted to go bold after what Reid was doing got old, and Kelly’s football mind brings more hope than doubt.

CAN I GET A QUARTERBACK, PLEASE

Now that Kelly is in Philly and Kaepernick is the man in San Francisco, the veterans to watch are Michael Vick and Alex Smith. Neither is a free agent yet, but they both will be available in some form as the best options with good starting (and winning) experience. Consider the only alternative in that vein may be the Bills’ Ryan Fitzpatrick.

As far as the draft, Luck, Griffin and Wilson have set an unreasonable standard for the incoming quarterback class. Geno Smith, Matt Barkley, Mike Glennon and Ryan Nassib are generating the most first-round interest.

Remember, however, that with Luck and Griffin also came Brandon Weeden and Ryan Tannehill, a big immediate drop off. There are several QB-needy teams, topped by the Chiefs and Cardinals. They have critical decisions to make between a veteran retread or a rookie unknown. Those teams can’t afford to whiff on either.

SAFETY FIRST

Now that the President has spoken, the ball is back in the Commissioner’s court. While the Super Bowl celebrated the best of professional football, questions regarding safety of players, both during and after their NFL careers, keep being asked.

Barack Obama isn’t sure about his hypothetical son taking up football. Roger Goodell has more confidence in letting his play.

Last offseason, former NFL quarterback Kurt Warner said he would “encourage his kids to stay away” from the game, called its current state “a scary” thing. He would like to see the league be more aggressive about gaining the necessary information to ensure a safer game.

“The greatest commodity of this game, from Pop Warner all the way up to the NFL level, are the players,” Warner said during Super Bowl week. “We have to continue to use the knowledge we get to figure out ways to protect the players.”

Warner’s sons do play football now, and he enjoys watching them play. But Warner shares the same concern as Obama, to have better knowledge of all the risks that come with playing.

“Is it always going to be a violent sport? No question. That’s the way the game is built,” Warner said. “The physical part of it something we all love, but we have to be smart about what we do.”